Mar 21, 2008

Bad Friday

A very dear friend of mine was today on the receiving end of a random act of stupid and cowardly violence.

Travelling to the city on a train, he was punched in the face by a complete stranger. The man was a young fellow, whom my friend describes as "looking for a fight". He had threatened him from across the aisle, before moving to sit down next to my friend, hassling him, before taking his bag, punching him, and jumping off the train as it pulled into the station.

What's worse is the man was accompanied by a woman, who while apparently not impressed with his behaviour, didn't stop him from hassling or hurting my friend.

Now my friend is thankfully OK - some very kind commuters called the train driver, and then an ambulance. He suffered a bloody nose and shock, but is otherwise fine. He luckily had his phone and wallet in his pockets, and his GameBoy in his hands. However his bag was taken, containing various books, games and other items.

He saw his attacker clearly and I believe will make a statement to police. I hope this disgusting and cowardly individual is caught as soon as possible. He is a person who needs to learn his behaviour isn't acceptable, and does NOT make him a "big man". Hopefully his female companion will turn him in, especially in the light of the recent One Punch Can Kill campaign, and other efforts to get women to shun men who fight.

My friend is a very calm, easygoing, "live and let live" type of guy. It's just plain wrong for him to be treated this way. The Wah and the Spoon, who accompanied me to the RBH to pick up our friend and drive him home, have made various vows of physical retribution, but I'm sticking to sending out bad karmic vibes to the universe. It has an uncanny way of dealing out frontier-style justice where necessary.

I took note of the irony of this attack occuring on Good Friday. Or perhaps it's appropriate, rather than ironic, given the religious holiday marks the anniversary of an extremely violent event. It's somewhat interesting that my friend has a slender frame with long wavy brown hair - and bears a fair resemblance to painted ideals of Jesus. I'm sure the attacker didn't think that much about it: all evidence at the moment points to him not thinking at all.